NP tonight - Colin Sahlman (1:48.84), Aaron (1:48.91), Leo Young (4:00.77), Lex Young (4:04.68)!!

Shifting discussion from all-timers in high school, I'm appreciating the 1:48s for these guys' off distance that they don't really train for. I like a different comparison: looking at athletic.net (which might not be complete), Centro Jr. only ran 1:54 in high school, and 1:50 in college.

Also remember that Drew Hunter went 1:48 in a HS-only race, losing to Brandon McGorty (as a JR) and beating Lomong.

McGorty still has eligibility I think, but has never run faster. Lomong has gone 1:47 and 3:48.

Guys who are slower than 1:50 and become elite milers are the exception. If your plan is to be a sub-3:34/3:50 guy, then your training needs to include the type of speed stuff that will get you to 1:46 or faster.

What was Leo Manzano's high school 800? I only see a 1:51. Those are our last two Olympic 1500m medalists.

1:50.48 at adidas Outdoors. Manzano was definitely a “late bloomer” though who did end up running 1:44 despite never really being viewed as an 800/1500 guy. He was always pure miler through and through.

I guess I still don't agree with your assessment that guys slower than 1:50 that become elite milers would be exceptions. I mean, even Kessler not far under at 1:49.67, and he's one of the top US prospects ever. So 1:48.8-9 for the Sahlman bros in their off event is pretty amazing.

Kessler split 1:47 at the state meet. Definitely could have run similar in the open if he got into the right race.

My guess is that after NP runs 4 x mile at PR they'll concentrate on individual races. But wouldn't it be nice to see them do a DMR and a 4 X 800. The DMR would be an easier task for them. We'll rest Lex on this and go with Leo- 1200, Adam Olson- 400, A. Sahlman-800, and C. Sahlman- 1600. Just off of what they've done so far I can see 2:57, 50, 1:50 and 4:00. That's 9:37, and the record is 9:49.78 by South Lakes (Webb anchor). The 4 X 800 would not be as easy. It's 7:28.75 by Long Beach Poly. But I think the same four who I have in the DMR could do it. Or substitute Lex for Adam Olson.

Well my big reason for responding was this quote:

”I really appreciate 1:48s for these guys' off distance that they don't really train for.”

My counter to that is that if you are training to run 3:57 or faster, you better be training to run around 1:48 for the 800m.

I don’t consider the 800 to be an “off event” for a miler.

Except the main event for them (except Aaron) is the 3,200/2 Mile so its pretty impressive to run 1:48 while gearing up to try and break LVs record next week.

Didn't he win the NCAA 1500m as a freshman?

How can they break a record for a race that they won't be running???

1:48.91 (Aaron) is really fast for a junior even for a 800 specialist. Then consider he has run 8:01. That is pretty serious range given he still has another year of HS track.

Yes. Kind of a shocker.

It has often been though, and more common for it to be an off event than a seriously run event. I pointed out Centro Jr., Manzano, and how about German Fernandez? 1:55.5, I think, and then he won NCAA 1500 as a freshman. How many prominent US milers in the last couple decades ran under 1:50 in high school vs. over 1:50? Webb was the one that kind of was a shocker at 1:47, but I think most were slower than 1:50 in high school.

Looking at https://trackandfieldnews.com/high-school-boys-list-archive/ , I only made it through 2003, 2004, and 2005 before it wanted me to subscribe, but there were only 1-5 high school boys per year in those years under 1:50, and none of them recognizable prominent US pro milers. Can someone with a sub give us a summary of the other years?

At the top level, El Guerrouj, Lagat, and many other top milers almost never ran 800s.

Yes there is something to more HS miler types taking cracks at a fast 800 in the last few years. In the 2000s the traditional pattern would be a few invite miles (Millrose, Outdoor Nationals) a big-time 3200/2mile (Arcadia, Hartford etc) and then at Nationals you’d run your best event. The 800 was something dabbled in a mid-level 800m invites, 4x800m races and running FTW usually against HS comp. I think in general there’re more racing oops now, and coaches don’t want to have their guys targeting sub-4 or 8:40 every week so why not make room for 1-2 cracks at sub 1:51 or even faster.

German Fernandez? He's on another level. Pure stud. Let's just take a minute to appreciate his studliness:

As a 20-year-old freshman, yes. He and I have the same birthday, but he was born two years before me. We graduated high school in the same year.